Alcademics.comtag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-16898562015-05-14T08:07:00-07:00Cocktails, spirits, bars, and bartenders: Alcademics is the study of booze with beverage journalist Camper English.TypePadNew Booze: Special Syrups, Blended Whiskies, Soda-Specific Vodkas, And More!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da20883401b7c7889768970b2015-05-14T08:07:00-07:002015-05-14T08:07:00-07:00Blended Canadian, scotch, and American whiskies, pisco, cool-sounding syrups, vodka designed for mixing with soda water, and other new products launching now. Camper English

It's hard to keep up with all the new spirits releases, so that's why I do it for you.

Dewar's Scratched Cask

Dewar's borrows a tradition from its bourbon counterparts - scratching the barrels after charring - to create a new liquid. Dewar's Scratched Cask is a blend of up to 40 single malt and single grain whiskies left to mature in oak casks at the brand's home in Scotland for a minimum of four years. At that point, instead of bottling the blend, the mature liquid is married in handcrafted American oak casks, selected by master blender Stephanie Macleod. These barrels, bourbon and virgin ok, are heavily charred and then lightly scratched at the char layer to alter the flavor of the whisky. The liquid is then left to blend and breathe for additional months, a production process called finishing.

This limited release will be available as of May 2015 while supplies last, and will retail for $25.99 at select luxury liquor retailers nationwide.

Crown Royal introduces its first-ever blended rye whisky, Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye. Available at 45% Alcohol by Volume, Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye will be sold at a suggested retail price of $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

To further enhance its portfolio, Crown Royal will also expand its Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel whisky program to select markets across the country. First offered exclusively in Texas, Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel features the heart of the Crown Royal blend, our Coffey Rye whisky. Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel is 103 proof / 51.5% Alcohol by Volume and will be sold at a suggested retail price of $54.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Barrelhound Blended Scotch Whisky (NY/DC Only)

Barrelhound Blended Scotch Whisky from Pernod Ricard bridges the bourbon and scotch worlds with a sweeter, more accessible taste profile. Barrelhound is matured in American Oak ex-bourbon barrels,.

Currently available in select U.S. markets including New York and Washington, D.C., Barrelhound is sold at a suggested retail price of $29.99. For more information please visit: www.barrelhoundwhisky.com.

Emory Vodka

Massachusetts based Blue Vase Marketing has announced the Spring 2015 launch of Emory Vodka. Emory Vodka is a one hundred percent corn based product that is naturally gluten free while being six times distilled.

New York based artist Blake Emory, one of today’s most innovative pioneers in the Optic Modernism movement, has developed a unique extension of his existing Zebra Love oil on canvas signature collection for the brand design of Emory Vodka.

A portion of proceeds from the sales of Emory Vodka will be donated to the ASPCA to help prevent cruelty to animals. Priced at $29-99 for 750ml.

SKYY Barcraft

SKYY Barcraft, a line of cocktail-inspired vodkas that come in three flavors: Watermelon Fresca, Margarita Lime and White Sangria. Just add one part SKYY Barcraft to two parts club soda over ice to replicate the experience you would find in a premium bar or restaurant.

SKYY Barcraft Margarita Lime, Watermelon Fresca and White Sangria, all 60 proof (30% ABV), will be available in 50ml (MSRP $1.99; available for Watermelon Fresca and Margarita Lime only), 750mL ($18.49), and 1L ($26.49). The entire SKYY Barcraft collection can be enjoyed with soda for an inspired cocktail in seconds.

Blade and Bow Bourbon

Blade and Bow consists of two offerings – Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Blade and Bow 22-Year-Old Limited Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Named after the two parts of a skeleton key, Blade and Bow is a tribute to the Five Keys of crafting bourbon made famous at Stitzel-Weller. Those keys included grains, yeast, fermentation, distillation and aging.

Born from some of the oldest remaining whiskey stocks distilled at Stitzel-Weller before it ceased production in 1992, the whiskey is made using a unique solera aging system to preserve the original stocks. This solera liquid is then mingled with other whiskeys, aged and bottled at Stitzel-Weller. The 91-proof bourbon is priced at $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Blade and Bow 22-Year-Old Limited Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is comprised of whiskeys distilled at both the distillery historically located at 17th and Breckinridge in Louisville, Ky. and the distillery historically located in at 1001 Wilkinson Blvd. Frankfort, Ky. The limited release offering was most recently aged and bottled at Stitzel-Weller. At 92-proof, you can purchase a 750 mL bottle for $149.99.

La Caravedo Pisco

Pisco Portón, LLC announces the addition of La Caravedo, a pisco puro, to the company’s portfolio. Both are made by Master Distiller Johnny Schuler at Hacienda La Caravedo located in Ica, Peru. Hacienda La Caravedo is known as the oldest distillery in the Americas, established in 1684.

La Caravedo is a pisco puro, which means it is made from only one of the eight grape varietals allowed by Peruvian law to make pisco. La Caravedo is made from the Quebranta grape, a non-aromatic varietal from the Peruvian coast known for its body and fullness of flavor. Approximately 8 pounds of grapes are used to make each bottle. La Caravedo Pisco is available in key U.S. markets with a suggested retail price of $24.99/750ml.

Compass Box Hedonism Quindecimus Blended Grain Scotch Whisky

Compass Box has turned fifteen with the launch of Hedonism Quindecimus – a Limited Edition, Blended Grain Scotch Whisky. Hedonism Quindecimus will be available in the U.S. June 1st ($175/750ml). Created specifically to commemorate their fifteenth anniversary, Quindecimus (meaning ‘fifteenth’) pays homage to the whiskymaker’s first ever product, Hedonism.

A blend of five separate parcels of aged grain whisky, Compass Box has taken the highly unusual step of revealing the precise age and sourcing of every cask that went into Quindecimus. Compass Box’s detailed sourcing information reveals that five parcels of whisky from four distilleries were used to create Hedonism Quindecimus: Parcels of 20yo and 25yo grain whisky distilled at Port Dundas were combined with 32yo whisky from Dumbarton, 20yo whisky from North British and a 32yo parcel of ‘mystery’ pre-blended grain whisky sourced from Loch Lomond distillery, for which the exact provenance is unknown.

Tippleman's Not Quite Simple Syrups

The owners of the popular cocktail bar—The Gin Joint—and the cocktail mixer line—Bittermilk—Joe and MariElena Raya have developed a new brand and product line specifically designed for the professional bartender. The new line, Tippleman’s, is a series of “Not Quite Simple Syrups” to give bartenders consistent quality bar syrups.

For the initial product launch, six products will be available for purchase. Visit http://www.tipplemans.com/ for direct ordering, bulk purchase, and store info.

The all-natural extracts are highly concentrated. A dash adds subtle sweetness with Rose + Hibiscus transforming clear liquid to pink, and Hibiscus Flower to brilliant bright red. The lower pH level (acidity) of citrus and other acidic ingredients interacts with b’Lure’s floral properties, mystically morphing it from blue to purple to pink.

Wild Hibiscus Floral Extracts and Syrups contain no alcohol, additives, preservatives, artificial colorings or flavorings -- the extracts can be used like bitters, coloring ice cubes and foams, can be used in spritzers, infusions and gelatin dishes, layering presentations and more. Products retail for a suggested price of $9.99 each.

Q Drinks Ginger Beer

Unlike other ginger beers, Q Ginger Beer is made with real ginger,organic agave, not loads of high fructose corn syrup or sugar, a touch of coriander, cardamom, and lime, and extra carbonation.

Ginger Beer Cocktails in Saveur's June Drink Inserttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da20883401a73dc95279970d2014-05-27T14:16:00-07:002014-05-27T14:16:00-07:00Saveur magazine has an insert in the June/July issue that is a mini-magazine called Drink. I wrote a handful of stories for it, including this one on ginger beer and its many uses.Camper English

Saveur magazine has an insert in the June/July issue that is a mini-magazine called Drink. I wrote a handful of stories for it.

I'll post them as they show up online (get excited, ice fans!), but the first to appear is a story on ginger beer. It's a bit of history, a bit about the difference between ginger ale and beer, and several recipes for drinks that show how it goes with everything:

Audrey Saunder's Gin-Gin Mule (gin)

Erick Castro's Kentucky Buck (bourbon)

Horse's Neck (cognac)

Dark 'N' Stormy (rum)

El Diablo (tequila)

I'm not sure if the Chilcano (pisco) will appear anywhere, but that's a pretty easy one to figure out.

Or to see the recipes written in normal format, you can follow this link.

What are the Ingredients in Your Favorite Ginger Beer?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da20883401a51188ca92970c2014-05-05T08:53:00-07:002014-05-05T09:34:54-07:00I was tasting some ginger beers for a story and noticed that a lot of them taste like dried pizza flakes in the finish -probably a sign that they added capsaicin or other pepper heat to the recipe. So I've listed the ingredients from the labels here and will add more as time goes on. (Or feel free to add them yourself in the comments if you have something handy.) Crabbies Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer - Malt beverage without ingredients listed except for natural flavors and caramel color. Bruce Cost Ginger Ale - Carbonated water, sugar, fresh ginger, citric acid...NewBoozer

I was tasting some ginger beers for a story and noticed that a lot of them taste like dried pizza flakes in the finish -probably a sign that they added capsaicin or other pepper heat to the recipe.

So I've listed the ingredients from the labels here and will add more as time goes on. (Or feel free to add them yourself in the comments if you have something handy.)

The Difference Between a Shrub and a Switcheltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da208834019b00a8c5d3970d2013-11-04T08:55:43-08:002013-11-04T08:55:43-08:00I received the new cocktail menu from Brandon Wise of Imperial in Portland, Oregon and noticed that it has the following drink on it: Slings and Arrows: Dewars blended scotch, Lemonhart Demerara rum, Lemon, Mulled pinot noir syrup, Tony's homemade switchel. The last ingredient was described as, "House-made switchel, also known as swizzle or haymaker’s punch. A long forgotten ingredient, Wise’s nostalgic resurrection of this carbonated cross between sweet tea and apple cider is an appreciated addition to Imperial’s ingredient list." So, a switchel sounds a lot like a shrub, a (usually) fruit-and-vinegar syrup. I followed up with Wise to...Camper English

I received the new cocktail menu from Brandon Wise of Imperial in Portland, Oregon and noticed that it has the following drink on it:

The last ingredient was described as, "House-made switchel, also known as swizzle or haymaker’s punch. A long forgotten ingredient, Wise’s nostalgic resurrection of this carbonated cross between sweet tea and apple cider is an appreciated addition to Imperial’s ingredient list."

So, a switchel sounds a lot like a shrub, a (usually) fruit-and-vinegar syrup. I followed up with Wise to ask him:

What's the difference between a switchel and a shrub?

His response:

There are many commonalities between switchel and shrub. The main difference is the role of fruit(s and veggies): shrubs, speaking in a general sense, are a way to preserve fruits of the season with vinegar. The switchel we make also incorporates vinegar, apple cider vinegar specifically, but does not rely on fruit for its flavor. Molasses, cider vinegar, and ginger are the key flavor agents in our switchel whereas in a 'strawberry shrub' (for example) the strawberry is the primary flavoring agent which is then effected by the vinegar. Switchel is a little closer to a root beer, ginger beer, or traditional ale.

Another fundamental difference is that our switchel is itself a drink, not an ingredient in a drink. Shrubs are delicious when you add water or soda but operate more as a syrup or sweetening agent; our switchel is meant to be consumable on its own. We bottle condition with yeast much like we make our tonic water for natural carbonation. The goal was to make something like a sarsaparilla rather than a syrup. Switchel, like tonic, can be carbonated or uncarbonated, we simply choose to do it this way.

We're very excited about this product and are pleased to see folks trying it for the first time and loving it. The cocktail on our menu that features switchel was an immediate hit and has become one of our best sellers. To my knowledge we are the only ones using it for cocktails and that is pretty exciting. It was something we stumbled upon when doing research for the Portland Penny Diner and its soda fountain component and have long desired to incorporate it into our beverage program. We've sat on the concept for almost a year until the season was right, and now we're seeing that our patience paid off. Resurrecting a quintessentially American beverage was our aim and our patrons are very much enjoying the fruits of that labor.

I'm no historian or scientist so my answer may still be lacking, but hopefully a bit of the back story and its application can at least clarify its intent and its differentiation from a shrub.

The Surprisingly Interesting History and Production of Tabasco Pepper Saucetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da208834016305dd085b970d2012-08-21T08:50:00-07:002012-08-24T09:57:54-07:00This spring I went to Avery Island, Louisiana, to see how Tabasco pepper sauce is made. Avery Island isn't really an island, but more of a dry mound (a salt dome) surrounded by wetlands. It's about 165 feet high and that makes it the tallest point in the Gulf Coast. The island is owned entirely by the Avery family, of which the McIlhennys form a branch. The first of them on the island was a man named Marsh, who built the Marsh House in 1818 that is still used for family weddings and other gatherings. Marsh wasn't a pepper sauce...Camper English

This spring I went to Avery Island, Louisiana, to see how Tabasco pepper sauce is made.

Avery Island isn't really an island, but more of a dry mound (a salt dome) surrounded by wetlands. It's about 165 feet high and that makes it the tallest point in the Gulf Coast.

The island is owned entirely by the Avery family, of which the McIlhennys form a branch. The first of them on the island was a man named Marsh, who built the Marsh House in 1818 that is still used for family weddings and other gatherings. Marsh wasn't a pepper sauce maker, but grew sugar cane on the part of the island that he owned. There are remains of three sugar refineries still on the island, and sugar cane is still grown in the surrounding area.

Marsh's son-in-law, who was an Avery, bought the rest of the island. This Avery's daughter married a McIlhenny, so that's where the families come together. And it was this McIlhenny who invented Tabasco sauce.

At some point, they discovered that the island was rich in salt deposits. Salt is still mined on the island by the Cargill company, and they've now drilled to 2000 feet below ground to do so. Every night, they detonate an explosive underground to ready some more salt for harvest, and sometimes you can hear the boom from the Marsh House.

During the Civil War, the families fled New Orleans to live on the island and escape the conflict. But armies need salt, for preservatives and for animals, so the war soon came to them. They were making salt for the Confederate army and the Union army tried to seize the island in a conflict that came to be known as "The Great Salt Expedition." Though this was a victory for the Confederates, the Union won the island just six months later.

After the Civil War, Edmund McIlhenny, a banker whose industry had been destroyed by the conflict, succeeded in his venture creating a pepper sauce. (It wasn't the first pepper sauce in America, though they were not common. It was said people initially complained that the sauce was too hot, as they applied it in quantities like the ketchup they were used to.) He grew peppers and developed the recipe from 1866-1868, and sold his first Tabasco sauce in 1869.

Unlike most brands who tout their recipe as being identical to the original, Tabasco has definitely changed. Initially, the pepper mash was aged for 30 days in jars, then vinegar was added and it aged for another 30 days.

Tabasco Today

Today, Tabasco sauce is a global business, but all of it still originates and is processed on the island. The seeds for all the peppers grown for Tabasco originate on the island, picked from the best plants, then peppers used in the sauce are grown in Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

Around the world the peppers are all hand-picked, ground up, have eight percent salt added (in South America, the salt they use is actually sent from Avery Island), and then the peppers ferment for a month before they're shipped back to Avery Island.

Back on the island, the "pepper mash" is aged in ex-bourbon barrels- about 50,000 of them here at the warehouse. The barrels are first de-charred and re-hooped, as the acidity of the mash would eat right through the typical barrel hoops. The pepper mash then ages in a barrel for three years on Avery island, stacked six-high on top of each other.

Not only is there salt used in the pepper mash, salt is added on top of each barrel. The barrels have a valve on top that releases carbon dioxide from the fermenting peppers, and it bubbles through the salt. When the fermentation is done, the salt forms a hard rock salt puck on top of the barrel, helping to seal the valve.

The three-year-old pepper mash is then added to vinegar and aged for up to 28 days before bottling. Peppers make up about twenty percent of the final product.

The actual peppers register from 40,000 to 50,000 on the Scoville scale, but after aging and dilution the final Tabasco sauce is around 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville heat units.

Inside the warehouse, we were able to taste the pepper mash- just putting a bit on our tongues and then spitting it out. As expected, it's hot as heck. But as a reward for doing so, we are given a necklace with a spoon attached, engraved with N.S.A.O. N.S.S.S. - allowing us membership into the The Not So Ancient Order of the Not So Silver Spoon.

After they make the Tabasco sauce, the spent peppers are sold to a pharmaceutical company that makes things like pepper spray and medicinal applications.

Types of Tabasco

The main line of Tabasco sauces now includes the Original, Green (jalapeno, the first sauce extension from 1993), Chipotle, Buffalo, Habanero, Garlic Pepper, and Sweet & Spicy.

But a trip to the gift shop on Avery Island shows just how many other brand extensions there are: Tabasco has hundreds of products it co-brands with, including A1 steak sauce, Hormel Chili, Cheez-Its, Slim Jims, and SPAM. They're all there, along with Tabasco-branded clothing and accessories and just about everything you can put a logo on.

They also sell some other sauces not available everywhere, like a Raspberry Chipotle and a Family Reserve that's aged up to eight years. They always seem to keep experimenting, and we got to try some prototype sauces.

So yeah, it turns out that Tabasco pepper sauce, something we see practically every day and never think about, actually has a fascinating history, production process, and global reach, all from this little island in the Louisiana bayou.

Shrubs For Dummiestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da20883401538f64e300970b2011-06-28T08:05:00-07:002011-06-24T07:49:52-07:00Last week I took a shrub-making class, lead by Jennifer Colliau of Small Hand Foods and Aaron Gregory of 15 Romolo. (Blueberry-Raspberry-Thyme Shrub Ready for Vinegar) The class was co-hosted by CUESA, Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, who puts on the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, farm tours, and educational events and Urban Kitchen, a group that hosts affordable, single-purpose classes and workshops themed around the DIY Slow Food concept. (Jennifer Colliau and Aaron Gregory) Here is what I learned: The word shrub comes from a Persian word for a syrup with citrus and fruit in it, which is...Camper English

The class was co-hosted by CUESA, Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, who puts on the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, farm tours, and educational events and Urban Kitchen, a group that hosts affordable, single-purpose classes and workshops themed around the DIY Slow Food concept.

(Jennifer Colliau and Aaron Gregory)

Here is what I learned:

The word shrub comes from a Persian word for a syrup with citrus and fruit in it, which is also the base of the word sherbet. Originally, shrubs did not have vinegar in them, but as they spread around the world they began to incorporate it. Why? Because Persia had citrus fruit and other countries did not. Citrus provides the acidity that helps preserve these syrups, and so does vinegar, which can be made from non-citrus fruits. So vinegar was a citrus substitute.

That explains why we see some recipes for shrub syrups with and some without vinegar. Blueberries, for example, need the extra acid; pineapple does not. I had always wondered about that. Mystery solved.

Furthermore there is a separate type of shrub related to the switchel. According to Colliau, the switchel dates back to Roman times. It was water mixed with vinegar and perhaps sugar that was used to hydrate the slaves. Wikipedia seems to pick up the trail of the switchel as it enters nascent America, where it was used similarly for hydration rather than as a preservative syrup.

Making Shrubs, Fast and Easy

They made it incredibly easy for us to make our own shrubs in this class. They put out a bunch of berries, stone fruits, herbs, and spices. We filled mason jars with our selection of them. Then we poured hot vinegar to fill the jars.

Done. Next we wait a week, giving the jar a little shake each day. Then we add sugar and stick it in the fridge -ready to drink!

I made a blueberry-raspberry-thyme shrub and a strawberry-pepper-coriander shrub. I CAN'T WAIT TO DRINK THEM!

Vinegar tip: Colliau says don't use distilled white vinegar, use wine/champagne or fruit vinegars. Be wary of apple cider vinegar as the flavor can be overpowering.

Thanks for a great seminar guys. To San Franciscans: check out the activities calendar for more booze and food event with both CUESA and Urban Kitchen.

Good on Toast, Great in Drinkstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da20883401538e9b0e11970b2011-05-20T13:39:07-07:002011-05-20T13:39:07-07:00(Photo courtesy of That's My Jamm) David Ruiz of Mr. Smith's makes jams and preserves just for cocktails. I wrote about it with a quick note about jam in cocktails historically, and in which bar you can find a mezcal drink with strawberry-raspberry-jabanero jam. Yumz. Read about That's My Jamm on Tasting Table. The story is here.Camper English

David Ruiz of Mr. Smith's makes jams and preserves just for cocktails. I wrote about it with a quick note about jam in cocktails historically, and in which bar you can find a mezcal drink with strawberry-raspberry-jabanero jam. Yumz.